Carpe Diem Haiku Kai is the place to be if you like to write and share Japanese poetry forms like haiku and tanka. It’s a warmhearted family of haiku poets created by Chèvrefeuille, a Dutch haiku poet. Japanese poetry is the poetry of nature and it gives an impression of a moment as short as the sound of a pebble thrown into water. ++ ALL WORKS PUBLISHED ARE COPYRIGHTED AND THE RIGHTS BELONG TO THE AUTHORS ++ !!! Anonymous comments will be seen as SPAM !!!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Carpe Diem #73, Spearflower (manryoo)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I was very surprised as I read all of your new haiku on the Special by Buson. And I have read even new contributors, wonderful ... it makes me humble as I see that new contributors are posting on Carpe Diem's daily haiku meme. Really ... when I started this daily haiku meme I gave myself three months to the max, but as I see how this Carpe Diem daily haiku meme has evolved than I think I can go on in the coming year(s).

Let's go on to our next prompt. Today our prompt is 'Spearflower (manryoo)'. I didn't know this flower, so I had to search the Internet and I found this picture:

A bit scientific maybe, but I had to share some background on Spearflower :

The Ardisia Crispa is a shrub that will grow between 2 feet high and 2 feet in thickness. It is semi hardy plant quite suited to temperate climates. It is an evergreen plant and keeps its leaves during Winter. It will grow well in any location including shaded areas of the garden. Situated against a north wall would be a good place for it to . The plant can produce a beautiful scent in the evenings that evokes a certain exotic ambience. The scent of the plant is seems most present on humid evenings after a warm day.

Origins:

The Spear Flower (Ardisia) originates in China and Malaya and is very common in Japan.

Flowers:

It produces white flowers in Autumn followed by small red fruits. The flowering usually takes place from July through to September.

The Spearflower is also know as Christmas Berry, that's why it's a kigo for winter. Well ... now we know a bit more about the Spearflower and maybe you can write a nice haiku on this Classical Japanese Kigo (seasonword).

Of course I love to share some haiku written by Haijin which I have found on the Internet. I am so glad that I also found a haiku written by Shiki (our next month haiku master for the Special) on spearflower.

14 comments:

I learn more not only from haiku on your page, but about everything around haiku, and nature - I should have looked at the age before writing the haiku and learnt more about the Christmas connection, but then maybe I would have been influenced. Great haiku there on this page, really good.

Thanks for the information you provide everyday, Kristjaan. I didn't know this beautiful shrub either.Your four haiku shine with the spirit of Christmas. This is my favorite line: sparrows picking them from the snow, lovely winter image.:)

Thank you all for kind words which you're sprinkling on me. And to answer your question Crystal ... I don't think there isn't any theme on which I can't write haiku. As far as I know of course (smiles).

The haiku were sooo good that you posted, I had a difficult time getting a grip on this one. Thank you for the excellent post...inspiring haiku.

The red berries are coveted here for winter decorationsespecially during the holidays. When I first moved to Maine 40+ years ago, one of my first memories of the local traditions was hearing people talk about knowingwhere the red berries could be found since the plantsaren't very noticeable til they bloom...and the floristwould buy the stems of berries at a good price.

Basho (1644-1694) once said:

[...] “When composing a verse let there not be a hair's breath separating your mind from what you write; composition of a poem must be done in an instant, like a woodcutter felling a huge tree or a swordsman leaping at a dangerous enemy.” [...]

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Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Carpe Diem is the place to be if you like to write and share haiku (or another Japanese poetry form like e.g. tanka). It's a family of haiku loving poets.Japanese poetry is known as the impression of a short moment, say a heartbeat or an eye-blink, in which nature plays an important role.It's free to participate in Carpe Diem. By participating in Carpe Diem, you agree with the use of your work in the exclusive e-book series of Carpe Diem.Of course your work will be credited as Carpe Diem always does. However all the texts and works at Carpe Diem are copyrighted and the rights belong to the authors.

March 20th 2016

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PS. Of course it is possible that you don't want to have your work published in our exclusive series of CDHK e-books. Please let me know that by sending an e-mail to our e-mail address carpediemhaikukai@gmail.com